Track and road bed construction



June 12, 1956 J. A. HASTINGS ET AL TRACK AND ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 10, 1953 INVENTORS CAM W555? w m&

JOH/VA. HAST/N ATTORNEY June 2. 1956 J. A. HASTINGS ET AL 2,750,118

TRACK AND ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 10, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS B CAR! 'Wfezfi,

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BY 5 ATTORNEY June 12, 1956 J. A. HASTINGS ET AL 2,750,118

TRACK AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS 6/?! WFBER FiledFeb. 10, 1953 Jay/v A HASH/V619 B Ai IORNEY June 12, 1956 J. A. HASTINGSET AL 2,750,113

TRACK AND ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 10, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 iIINVENTORS CARA WiBfi/Q, HN A. HASH/V68,

ATTORNEY United States Patent O TRACK AND ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION John A.Hastings, Great Neck, and Carl Weber, New York, N.Y., assignors, bymesne assignments, to The Transportation Development Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 10, 1953,Serial No. 336,142 4 Claims. (Cl. 238-25) This invention relates to theconstruction of railroads and may be utilized in urban, surburban,interurban, overland and transcontinental services.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a railroadconstruction which is more economical to construct and will facilitatethe operation of cars and trains at higher speeds, with greater safetyand at less cost of maintenance of the road itself and of the rollingstock operating thereover.

While great advances have been made in railroad rolling stock, it isstill the universal custom to grade a rightof-way, to add rock or otherballast, to lay wooden crossties and to anchor the rails to the ties,thus forming a roadbed. The largest number and the most serious railroadaccidents have always been and still are due to roadbed failures, whichresult in spreading or broken rails. Roadbeds fail when a section orarea is unstable as on fills and on inherently unstable ground.Continuous and costly maintenance and constant inspection is and must bepractised because the inherent weaknesses remain. Also, in certain partsof the United States and, more so in tropical countries, torrentialrains occur several times yearly. These rains create streams andrun-oflFs of such depth and force that roadbeds may be weakened, and attimes, completely washed out.

An object of'this invention is to provide a railroad composed of asystem or tandem series of very sturdy and rigid rectangular concretesections or frames which will be highly stable against distortion, andto lay the rails thereon. The rails are anchored directly to thesections without the use of cross-ties.

Another object is to provide supports for the concrete sections in theform of concrete piers located at the corners of the sections in suchmanner that each section corner is supported by a pier jointly with thecorner of an adjacent section. The piers will vary in height to adjustthe tracks to the terrain of the ground. If the ground being traversedby one section is solid rock it may rest directly thereon, but otherwiseit is recommended that the piers be of such height that the bottoms ofthe concrete sections are substantially above the ground by somedistance as, for instance, two feet. In rather rough country the pierswill vary in height from one to the other and may become quite highwhere obstaclesor streets are to be spanned. The supports are adjustedin height to maintain the roadbed level as opposed to adjusting thelevel of the ground.

Another object is to provide improved means for anchoring the sectionsto the piers, and improved means for anchoring and relating the tracksto the sections so that neither the tracks nor the sections will driftlaterally or longitudinally.

More particularly it is an object to provide a firmly anchored, rigidroadbed and to lay the rails thereon without the use of cross-ties butwith a continuous strip of rubber separating the rails from the concretebeams. Thus, the concrete is protected against high frequencyvibrations, the cars thereover will be similarly protected, thus2,750,118 Patented June 12, 1956 running more quietly and the trackswill have longer life.

A further object is to teach the manufacture of the road frames bypre-fabn'cation so that once the piers are placed and ready, the framesmay be hauled by a train which lays them and thereafter runs over thelaid section to permit laying of the next frame or section.

Other objects and advantages will become hereinafter more fully apparentas reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which my inventionis illustrated and in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a concreteframe, ready to receive the rails,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken along the line 22 ofFigure 1, showing also the rail in dotted lines and showing groundterrain,

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the section of Figures 1 and 2 showingthe rails in full lines and showing a ground terrain different from thatof Figure 2, and also showing portions of adjacent frames,

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical line 44 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is an enlargened side elevation of two frames resting on acommon pier, ready for grouting,

Figure 6 is a vertical section taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5after application of the grout.

Figure 7 is an enlargened side elevation of the ends of two framesresting on a pier, partially broken away to show the expansion jointconstruction,

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the showing in Figure 7, broken awayalong the line 8-8 of Figure 7 for explanatory purposes,

Figure 9 is a vertical transverse section taken along the line 9-9 ofFigure 10,

Figure 10 is a side elevation of a section of track at a point where therails are anchored,

Figure 11 is a fragmentary side elevation of a section of roadbedshowing one rail supported by a continuous strip of rubber,

Figure 12 is a top elevation of one rail and its supporting beam, withrubber supporting the rail, and

Figure 13 is a vertical transverse section taken along the line 13-13 ofFigure 11.

More particularly, the reference numeral 1 indicates the longitudinaltrack supporting beams upon which the tracks are laid. These beams aremade of concrete re-inforced by longitudinal rods 3 which arepreferably, also prestressed, as is well understood in the art. Thebeams 1 are connected by a plurality of concrete cross-members 2, thusforming a highly rigid rectangular frame to receive rails 4.

The members 1 and 2 may be prefabricated at some convenient point andhauled to the point of laying, or the section 1, 2 may be fabricated informs at the point of use. If fabricated at the point of use, it isrecommended that the re-inforcing rods 3 be supplemented byincorporating vertical re-inforcing wires 5, as illustrated in Figure 4,and that re-inforcing rods 6 of the cross-members 2 be wrapped aroundthe vertical wires 5.

If the members 1 and 2 are pre-fabricated, then it is recommended thatslots or grooves 7 be provided in the beams 1 to receive thecross-members 2, whereupon a sealing grout is poured in the remainingcracks to make an integral union of the two.

The beams 1 are each molded with a series of spaced holes or depressions8, as best seen in Figure 9, to receive the hold-down bolts 9. Thesebolts are sealed in place by a grout after the beams 1 are in place.

The rigid frame is supported at each corner by pier posts 10 which havebeen previously set in place. The setting of the posts 10 requires fullknowledge of the subsoil structure and fabrication of a base thereforwhich will not sink or rock for indefinite periods of time. It

section taken along the is preferable that the base of each pier postfind support on solid rock, but when this is not possible then it mustbe of such depth and size as to remain stable. Each post must,therefore, be fabricated with great care so that the frame 1, 2 whichrests thereon will remain firmly supported and accurately in place. Eachpost 10' supports one end of two adjacent beams l. The height of thebeams above ground will vary greatly. Where the terrain is hilly and ofsolid rock their height above ground may become practically Zero, asillustrated in Figure 3; where there is no particular requirement forheight and only water run-off need be considered, the height may well beabout two feet; and where very irregular ground with dips and ditchesare to be spanned, their height may attain many feet. Also if it isdesired, the height may be suificient to elevate the tracks above roadsfor automotive vehicles to the point where it becomes a true elevatedstructure through cities and towns.

As best shown in Figures 7 and 8, each beam may be provided with ametallic plate 11 to rest upon and have sliding contact with a metallicplate 12 on top of each post 10. This will allow for expansion andcontraction under heat. In order to maintain the alignment of the beams1 we provide metallic dowels 13 in one beam 1 for sliding engagementwith sockets 14 embedded in the adjacent beam 1. These expansion jointsmay not be necessary at every pier post and may not be necessary at allin certain climates. Where they are not used the construction will be asillustrated in Figure 5.

In Figures and 6 it will be seen that some or all of the reinforcingrods 3 project outwardly of the ends of each beam 1 so that they overlapthe rods 3 of the adjacent beam 1. Vertical pins 14 project upwardlyfrom the posts to establish and help maintain the alignment of the beams1 with respect to each other and with respect to the posts 10. Grout isthen poured into the space between the ends of the rails to form a uniontherebetween.

As illustrated in Figures 6 and 9, a thin steel strip 15 is then laid ontop of the beams 1, the tracks 4 are placed on this strip 15 and fishplates 16 anchor the tracks to the beams 1, the fish plates beinganchored to the beams 1 by means of the bolts 9. While this constructionis entirely practical, it is preferred that the tracks be laid asillustrated in Figures 11, 12 and 13.

In these figures it is seen that the beams 1 are cast with a groove 17longitudinal thereof, and that a strip of rubber 18 extends continuouslyalong this groove. A thin metal strip 19 continuously covers the rubber18 and the tracks 4 rest on the strip 19. The bolts 9, previouslydescribed, anchor the fish plates 20 to the beams 1 and the fish plates20, in turn, anchor the tracks.

The rubber of which the strip 18 is made should be of good quality inorder to provide actual resiliency. The width of the rubber must becomputed so that it will not be overstressed for the loading to which itis to be subjected.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit ofmy invention and I therefore desire to be extended protection as definedby the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A railroad construction comprising a double row of spaced pier posts,a series of rigid track supporting sections each composed of twoparallel concrete beams rigidly connected by transverse members, saidsections each being supported at its corners by one of said pier 4 postsjointly with a corner of an adjacent track section, metallic dowelsanchoring each of said beams to each adjacent beam, the ends of saidbeams being slightly spaced from each other, dowels anchored in saidpier posts and arising in the spaces between said beams active againstthe first named dowels to maintain said beams in anchored alignment,and'a filler material filling said space between said beams protectingsaid dowels against exposure to moisture.

2. A railroad construction comprising a double row of spaced pier posts,a series of rigid track supporting sections each composed of twoparallel concrete beams rigidly connected by transverse members, saidsections each being supported at its corners by one of said pier postsjointly with a corner of an adjacent track section, said beams eachbeing slightly spaced from adjacent beams and having metallic dowelmeans longitudinally thereof for engagement with dowel means of theadjacent beam, some of said dowel means being composed of relativelymovable members to permit expansion and contraction of said beams, otherdowels anchored in said pier posts and extending into the space betweensaid beams in contact with the first named dowels, and filler materialprotecting said dowels against exposure.

3. A railroad construction comprising a double row of spaced pier posts,a series of rigid track supporting sections each composed of twoparallel concrete beams rigidly connected by transverse members, saidsections each being supported at its corners by one of said pier postsjointly with a corner of an adjacent track section, said beams eachbeing slightly spaced from adjacent beams and having metallic dowelmeans longitudinally thereof for engagement with dowel means of theadjacent beam, some of said dowel means being composed of relativelymovable members to permit expansion and contraction of said beams, otherdowels anchored in said pier posts and extending into the space betweensaid beams in contact with the first named dowels, filler materialprotecting said dowels against exposure, rails laid on said beams, andmeans connecting said rails directly to said beams without theinterposition of cross-ties.

4. In a railroad construction, the combination of parallel concretebeams rigidly connected by cross-members, said beams each having agroove longitudinally thereof, a strip of resilient material in saidgroove, a rail on said rubber, bolts embedded in said beams alongsidesaid rails and tie plates secured by said bolts against said beams, saidtie plates having vertical wall portions, rubber between each of saidvertical wall portions and said rails, said rails being movable withrespect to said beams against the resiliency of said resilient materialand said rubber, said tie plates being slidable with respect to saidrails in response to movement of said rails with respect to said beams.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS128,120 Connelly June 18, 1872 188,617 Foster Mar. 20, 1877 189,381 Palmet a1. Apr. 10, 1877 788,570 Wight et al. May 2, 1905 791,772 Gow June6, 1905 948,236 Miller Feb. 1, 1910 969,966 Lyman Sept. 13, 19101,024,852 Holmberg Apr. 30, 1912 1,435,618 Newell Nov. 14, 1922

